Sunday, March 6, 2011

Not all travels require planes, boats, or trains, and a recent call from my brother Rich set me on a short walking journey to my wood shop. He asked if I would be interested in turning some replacement legs for a bed that his son Zachary had used in his youth. "I'd be delighted." was my response.

Enjoying the process as much as the fulfillment, I decided to document the steps from board feet to bed feet. I hope Naia (Zach and Maria's beautiful new baby) will someday enjoy her "new" bed.

The Bed and ...

The Problem

The Turner's Template

The Prototype

20 Board Feet of 1 x 4 inch Poplar

Cut Up and ...

Glued up

Centered

Notched

Ready for turning

There's nothing like the smell of woodchips in the morning

A little design change

Measure to duplicate

Transfer the measurement

Set the dimensions and start turning the curves

Mark and Cut the Spindle

Duplicate 3 times

Make a jig and ship them off

Left coast installation

Looking pretty darned good

All stained and waiting.

So that's it. A nice fun way to spend a week doing what we enjoy. I learned that duplicating a design is harder than it looks, but a great challenge. Looking forward to the day Naia is big enough to enjoy her "new" bed.